Medicine cup that enables a patient to consume contents without moving head or neck backwards

ABSTRACT

A cup for dispensing liquid and solid medication. The cup has a bottom  12 , two sides  14, 16 , extending upwardly from the bottom to form a rim  26  at a top of the cup, and a ramp  18  extending outwardly from the bottom  12  at least part way to the rim. The two sides and the ramp  19  join to form a mouthpiece of the cup. An upper vertical portion  24  extends downward from the rim  26 . The ramp  19  extends outwardly from the bottom  12  to the upper vertical portion  24  such that the two sides  14, 16 , the ramp  19 , and the upper vertical portion  24  join to form a mouth piece of the cup. The cup allows an individual to consume the entire contents within the cup without moving the head or neck backwards.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation in part of Ser. No.09/412,885, filed Oct. 5, 1999, which is a continuation of Provisionalapplication Ser. No. 60/103,341 filed Oct. 7, 1998, which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates a medicine-dispensing cup for liquid orsolid medication that allows an individual to consume the entirecontents within the cup without moving the head or neck backwards.

[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0005] A number of patents are concerned with containers designed toease ingestion of liquids or solids by an individual. Hucknall, in U.S.Pat. No. 2,599,919, shows a container fitted with an integral straw-likepassage that extends above the container top. In U.S. Pat. No.3,014,621, Povitz discloses a plastic lip and handle that attaches to abeverage can. Hostetter, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,523, shows a hospitalcup with a foldable top edge that contains a small conduit to allow aprone individual to drink from the conduit. A drinking attachment for acan that includes an extended lip portion is described by Ward in U.S.Pat. No. 3,429,478. A closure device with a pouring lip for containersis disclosed by Kapples in U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,453. Watson, in U.S. Pat.No. 4,235,348, describes a drinking container with an open trough-likespout projecting laterally from one side. Junkman et al., U.S. Pat. No.4,887,729, discloses a two-handled cup for handicapped persons. In U.S.Pat. No. 5,323,928, Stevens describes a dysphagia cup having slopinginterior surfaces and an elliptically-shaped top opening to accommodatea user's nasal bridge during drinking such that substantial backwardsangulation of the head is not required. Sang-Seo, in U.S. Pat. No.5,415,313, shows a beverage can with a lip that protrudes from the topof the can upon removing a pull tab to open it. Neville U.S. Pat. No.5,645,191 discloses a disposable safety cup with a spout formed by thecontainer side and attached cup cover.

[0006] It is desirable to provide a dispensing cup for liquid or solidmedication that allows an individual to consume the entire contentswithin the cup without moving the head or neck backwards.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Briefly, the invention is concerned with a dispensing cup forliquid and solid medication. The cup has a bottom, two sides, extendingupwardly from the bottom to form a rim at a top of the cup, and a rampextending outwardly from the bottom, part way or all the way to the rim.The two sides and the ramp join to form a mouthpiece of the cup.

[0008] An advantage of the invention is that it provides a dispensingcup for liquid or solid medication that allows an individual to consumethe entire contents within the cup without moving the head or neckbackwards.

[0009] The invention has the further advantage that liquid or solidcontents that would otherwise settle at the bottom of the cup aredislodged when the cup is tilted.

[0010] The invention has the further advantage that the shape of the cupallows stacking of a number of cups for storage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The invention will be described in greater detail with referenceto the drawings in which:

[0012]FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a medical cup, in which thepresent invention is embodied,

[0013]FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the cup shown in FIG. 1; and,

[0014]FIG. 3 is a top view of the cup shown in FIG. 1; and

[0015]FIG. 4 is a side view of the cup shown in FIGS. 1-3;

[0016]FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of a secondpreferred embodiment of a medical cup in accordance with the presentinvention wherein the ramp-like mouthpiece portion has a triangularshape.

[0017] In these figures, similar numerals refer to similar elements inthe drawing. It should be understood that the sizes of the differentcomponents in the figures may not be to scale, or in exact proportion,and are shown for visual clarity and for the purpose of explanation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] The design of the cup is to benefit people that have restrictedmovement of the head and neck region. The design of the cup enables aperson with these restrictions, to easily consume the entire contentswithin the cup without moving the head or neck backwards. The cup willbe used in the medical field and the private sector. Typical users thatwill benefit from this design include, but are not limited to, thephysically handicapped, bedridden patients, those with loss of musclecontrol and the elderly.

[0019] Referring now to FIG. 1, a medical cup 10 is illustrated in upperperspective view. The medical 10 is exemplary of a medical cup in whichthe present invention is embodied. The bottom 12 has a curved edge 23and a linear edge 21. A ramp-like mouthpiece portion 19 extendsoutwardly from the bottom 12 to a top rim 26. Two curved sides, 14, 16,extend from the bottom 12 to the top rim 26. The two curved sides jointhe ramp-like mouthpiece portion and meet at a short edge 18 oppositethe mouthpiece portion 19. The short edge 18 is shorter than theextended ramp-like mouthpiece portion 19. The short edge 18 extendsoutwardly from the bottom 12 at an angle θ from the bottom 12. Thebottom 12 is also angled at an angle Φ from the short edge 18 to theramp-like mouthpiece portion 19. The ramp-like mouthpiece portion has anupwardly and outwardly tapering curvilinear shape that extends from thelinear edge 21 to an uppermost portion 22 of the top rim 26 to form theramp-like mouthpiece portion 19. The medical cup 10 is shown in bottom,top and side views in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 respectively.

[0020] The ramp-like mouthpiece portion 19 may also have a polygon shaperather than a curvilinear shape. An example of an embodiment of themedical cup of present invention wherein the ramp-like mouthpieceportion is an isosceles triangle is shown in perspective view at numeral50 in FIG. 5. In medical cup 50, the uppermost portion 22 of the rim 26is the vertex of an isosceles triangle wherein the base of the triangle51 is congruent with the linear edge 21 of the bottom 12. Furthermore,the curved edge 23 of the bottom of the cup may be partially circular inshape or partially elliptical in shape. The rim 26 of medical cups 10and 50 preferably have a greatest height of about 2.5 inches, a leastheight of about 2.5 inches and a bottom having a greatest diameter ofabout 1.2 inches. The total volume of the cup is preferablyapproximately 1 oz.

[0021] When the cup is tilted toward the user, the extended mouthpieceallows the contents to enter the mouth without the users nose hittingthe rim of the cup. Simultaneously, the displacement angle of the rampdisplaces the contents that would normally settle at the bottom of thecup. Because creating a displacement angle θ requires the loss ofmaterial on the bottom of the cup, the cup would normally becomeunstable and could fall over and spill. In order to counteract thetendency of the inclined ramp-like mouthpiece portion 19 to shift thecenter of gravity of the cup causing instability and to stabilize thecup, the bottom 12 is inclined by an angle Φ from the shorter side 18 tocounterbalance the longer mouthpiece side 19. This compensates for thispotential loss of stability, since the counterbalance angle Φ shifts thecenter of gravity of the cup. The plane caused by the creation of thiscounterbalance angle Φ, runs from the shorter edge 18 of the cup andmeets the plane of the displacement angle at the bottom of the cup. Thisdesign allows the cup contents to enter the mouth of an individualwithout the nose of the user contacting the rim of the cup.

SUMMARY

[0022] A dispensing cup for liquid and solid medication is disclosed.The cup comprises a bottom 12 two sides 14, 16, extending upwardly fromthe bottom to form a rim 26 at a top of the cup and, a ramp 19 extendingoutwardly from a linear edge 21 of the bottom part way or all the way tothe rim, the two sides and the ramp 19 joining at 22 to form amouthpiece of the cup. The cup may be constructed of any suitablematerial, such as paper, Styrofoam, or a plastic material. If a plasticsuch as polyethylene is used, the cup may be formed through an injectionmolding process. Identical cups will fit within each other to save spacein packaging and delivery and in storage or in cup dispensers. The cupmay have graduated markings as a guide for measuring the volume of thecontents.

[0023] It should be understood that various modifications could be madeto the shape of the cup without departing from the scope of theinvention. For example, the ramp may extend only part way to the rim ofthe cup. Furthermore the ramp may not form a triangle. For example, thevertex 22 may be changed to form a fourth side of a polygon, with theshorter side of the polygon being the vertex, resulting in a widermouthpiece, the ramp 19 extending all the way or part way to the rim 26.The bottom of the cup has been shown as a somewhat elliptical shape. Thebottom may be modified to be more circular in shape at the curved edgeopposite the linear edge 21 at the base of the ramp 19. This would causethe sides 14, 16 to become more circular in shape.

[0024] While the invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in formand detail may be made therein without departing from the scope of theinvention.

What we claim is:
 1. A medical cup for dispensing liquids and solidscomprising: a flat bottom 12 having a linear edge 21; two sides 14, 16,extending upwardly from said bottom to form a rim 26 at a top of saidcup; and, a ramp-like mouthpiece portion 19 extending outwardly andupwardly from said linear edge 21 of said bottom at least part way tosaid rim; said two sides 14, 16, and said ramp-like mouthpiece portion19 joining to form a fluid container.
 2. A medical cup for dispensingliquids and solids comprising: a bottom 12 having a curved edge 23 and alinear edge 21; a top rim 26; a ramp-like mouthpiece portion 19extending outwardly from said linear edge of said bottom 12 to a top rim26; and, two curved sides, 14, 16, extending upwardly from said curvededge 23 of said bottom 12 to said top rim 26, said two curved sidesjoining said ramp-like mouthpiece portion and meeting at a short edge 18opposite said ramp-like mouthpiece portion; said short edge beingshorter than said extended ramp-like mouthpiece portion; said short edge18 extending from said bottom 12 outward at an angle Φ from said bottom12.
 3. A medical cup for dispensing liquids and solids comprising: (a) aflat bottom having a perimeter comprising an arcuate edge and a linearedge; (b) an arcuate side portion coextensive with and extendingupwardly and outwardly from said arcuate edge of said bottom; and (c) atriangular ramp-like mouthpiece portion extending upwardly and outwardlyfrom said linear edge of said bottom, said triangular mouthpiece portionhaving a shape defined as an isosceles triangle, the isosceles trianglehaving a base that is congruent with said linear edge of said bottom. 4.The medical cup in accordance with claim 3 wherein said triangularmouthpiece portion has two edges having equal length and wherein saidtwo edges having equal length are attached to and continuous with saidarcuate side portion and wherein said bottom, said arcuate side portionand said triangular mouthpiece portion define a container.
 5. Themedical cup in accordance with claim 3 wherein said medical cup is ofunitary construction.
 6. The dispensing cup in accordance with claim 4wherein said medical cup has unitary construction.